CHICAGO (Reuters) - Troy Lee Gentry, half of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry, has been charged with killing a tame bear and then making it look as if it was a hunting trophy, authorities said on Wednesday.

A top country act since the late 1990s with such hits as "Good Clean Fun," Gentry, 39, was arraigned in federal court this week on a charge of conspiracy to falsely label an animal.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

According to an indictment unsealed this week, in October 2004 Gentry paid $4,650 to shoot the "trophy-caliber" bear named "Cubby" at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection in northern Minnesota, which advertises itself as a place where animals can be photographed in the wild.

After using a bow and arrow to kill the animal inside its pen, Gentry and the owner of the preserve tagged the bear and registered it with the state as if it had been killed in the wild. A videotape was edited to make it appear that Gentry had hunted down the bear.

Attempts to reach Gentry, who was freed on bond, were unsuccessful.

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This is about as image shattering as it gets.... especially if you happen to believe all of that rightwing mythology about what makes a man a real man. I have to wonder how much of a scratching and clawing fit his big dollar legal team from the record label must have put up to get this delayed for almost two years.

I doubt he gets the sticking he deserves for this, but if you want to know the type of drivel he makes his living off of... go find the 'You Do Your Thing, I'll Do Mine' video on You Tube and listen to the lyrics.

The CMA's should offer a 'Lee Greenwood Award' for this kind of plastic flag waving horseflop. Given to 'the most panderingly jingoistic nonsense performed by the biggest realworld frauds in country music' every year